St James' Park won't be silent for long. It is now just 47 days until Newcastle United face Nottingham Forest on the first opening day of this new era when the stadium will rock once again.
For all the issues Newcastle's owners inherited last year - from a side in very real danger of going down to an outdated training ground - they always knew they had one mighty asset in St James' and so it proved. Outsiders only had to look at the scenes before, during and after the win against Arsenal last month to realise that something really is stirring on Tyneside. It felt more like a European night as Wor Flags produced their biggest display yet.
Is it any wonder, then, that the owners have ruled out building a new arena? As complicated as an expansion would be, architect Christopher Lee, who has designed more than 30 stadiums on five continents, including the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the Emirates and the Aviva, can understand why the hierarchy want to exhaust every possible avenue to increase the capacity to 60-65,000 supporters.
